An Allentown lawyer's license has been temporarily suspended after his attorney said he misappropriated $175,000 from his clients to support a pain medication addiction.

Jason Jenkins, 41, who has been a lawyer for 15 years, acknowledged wrongdoings and agreed to allow his license to be suspended in July, records say, pending the results of an investigation that would determine possible permanent disciplinary measures.

"The respondent accepts full responsibility and is now making amends in his life," Samuel Stretton, Jenkins' attorney, wrote to the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. "The respondent will fully cooperate with this investigation."

Both sides filed a joint petition to temporarily suspend Jenkins' license Aug. 6, and the suspension took affect Sept. 28, according to court documents.

However, since those filings, Jenkins has publicly denied some of the claims his attorney made on his behalf, including that he has a pain medication addiction.

Stretton declined to comment further about the contradictory claims, but said that they will not have any impact on what has already been filed with the state.

Jenkins did not respond to a request for comment. He previously operated his law practice out of an office at 1908 Allen St. in the city.

'How could he do that?'

In May, two of Jenkins' former clients accused him of misappropriating $40,000 they should have received in a settlement from a Montgomery County lawsuit, according to court documents.

Charles and Gladys Kreible accused Jenkins of signing the Krieble's names on the back of a settlement check without their permission. Jenkins never provided them any funds and ignored their efforts to contact him, records say.

The settlement was the result of an injury after Charles suffered a heart attack and a responding ambulance ran over his foot, said Gladys Kreible, of Telford, Pa., during a phone interview Friday.

Gladys, 83, said the injury and the lengthy litigation process that followed were difficult for the elderly couple, which made Jenkins' taking of the money that much harder.

"I just couldn't believe he did that," Gladys said. "How could he do that? He signed our name to our check and took our money."

'It should never have happened'

In a July 9 letter to the disciplinary board, Stretton said that Jenkins admits to those allegations as well as pocketing another $135,000 from four other clients.

Stretton wrote that Jenkins' addiction to pain medication "contributed and caused his bad judgment and contributed to his misuse of client's funds."

Jenkins borrowed money from his parents with the intention of paying back each of those clients within 15 days of the July 9 letter, Stretton wrote.

Gladys Krieble said the money has indeed been returned to the couple. She originally did not plan to seek the money because she assumed she could not fight Jenkins, but her daughter urged her to do so.

"But why did it happen in the first place?" she said. "It never should have happened."

An investigation by the disciplinary board is currently ongoing and permanent disciplinary measures against Jenkins will be determined at a later time, according to records.